When he gets back into the Calgary Flames lineup, however, is still one of the team's biggest question marks.

It's been five months since a puck hit Langkow and fractured a vertebrae at the base of his neck, and symptoms related to the injury are lingering.

"It's hard to say exactly a timeline on it, but I think we're hoping that it's ready for camp," said Nathan Zaseybida, Langkow's agent. "Over the last couple of weeks, he's had big improvements, and that's pretty typical with the injury.

"It's just a sensation that he's having that needs to pass."

Flames assistant GM Jay Feaster says a visit with the doctor last week got the gritty centre cleared for "light" skating, but Langkow is still unable to take contact or even lift weights with just a few weeks remaining before training camp opens at the Saddledome.

"We remain optimistic as progress continues to be made," Feaster said via e-mail this week.

Zaseybida agrees there's reason to be positive. Another trip to the medical office is on tap for next week.

"He told me it's feeling a lot better," Zaseybida said a day after meeting with his client in person.

"We're seeing good signs of improvement. A lot of the symptoms that we were kind of concerned about are passing."

The impact of the slapshot off teammate Ian White's stick sent Langkow off the ice in a stretcher and to the hospital while his teammates returned to Calgary after a game in St. Paul against the Minnesota Wild March 21.

Flying back the next day in a neck brace with all feeling in his extremities, the hope was the frightening incident would result in a few weeks of rehabilitation.

It took nearly half a calendar year just to get permission to lace up his skates again.

The fact it's been months and the soon-to-be 34-year-old is still unable to prepare to play at the NHL level by even pumping iron shows just how serious the injury is.

"Once the extent of the injury was understood and we found that there was that fracture, you have to be super careful," said Zaseybida. "I think he's healed up pretty quickly, all things considered."

Lying on the ice in at the Xcel Energy Center in March, Langkow asked Wild defenceman Greg Zanon to fetch help after the puck hit him — and it was clear to everyone watching the possibility of a bad injury existed.

Langkow isn't prone to lying prone on any surface.

This is a guy who plays with broken bones in his hands and still never shies away from the front of the net where odds are he'll get hit with another shot.

So you know he's itching to get back, and this summer has seemed especially long.

"If he was going through this during the season, he wouldn't be a happy guy, that's for sure," Zaseybida said.

"When it's summertime and there's no hockey going on, it's a lot easier to deal with these things without the worry that you're missing games."

Missing games is something he may still have to deal with.

"You don't want to rush anything with it," his agent said. "Everyone's being kind of extra cautious and making sure everything's 100% before we put him back on the ice taking contact."